A little gem of a discovery this one – this time we are right on the end of the network on Aylestone Road at the junction with Wigston Lane on the pedestrian island that is opposite the new Doctors Surgery (the site of the former Rutland Arms public house).
A close up of the hole revealing the top surface of the rail. It’s been 64 years since this rail last saw a tramcar.
A huge thanks to Raj Kataria – Clerk of Works at Leicester City Council for identifying this one for us.
A great discovery for Track Watch 2013.
It’s been mentioned a few times that people would be interested in acquiring bits of genuine Leicester tramway rail…. would there by any possibility of that? Be a good way of raising funds if only the council (?) would agree to it….
Hi Rob. Thanks for your continued interest and support. We totally agree with the idea and we did obtain a large section of rail specifically to slice into paper weights. Perhaps 31 pieces at £31 each?! The idea had to be dropped for now as the cost of cleaning up the rail section and slicing it is shocking! The blade used to cut the steel is incredibly expense (prohibitive would be a better word), I was told it would cost nearly £2k for a blade. The steel rail has been hardened for at least 45 years in use and then has been heavily compressed and compacted under a road surface for another 60 years. It’s so hard that neat cutting with a disc is almost impossible. The road workers generally use acetylene gas axe which is effective but not very neat for paperweights! It’s still on the cards to do but for now it’s on hold whilst we work on our larger funding plan.